It’s turbulent times in Australian politics. Many of us are shaking our heads at the games recently played out in the tumultuous environment of our federal parliament.

But, spare a thought for the women involved.  MPs Julie Bishop, Julia Banks, Emma Hauser and Sarah Hansen-Young are household names after recent events in federal parliament. But I bet these women would rather be known for their political leadership and public service contribution rather than examples of how gender can define political debate.

Increasingly, it seems these women may have sacrificed a lot in their efforts to represent their community.

A time of anguish

I remember the first time I saw the famous French sculpture of The Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin. Even though it was decades ago, the art continues to inspire me. Beautifully rendered in bronze, the sculpture captures the agonising surrender of six community leaders (Councillors), who in 14^th Century France volunteered their lives in exchange for a peace deal. The victorious English King who had long waged war on their town wanted their heads. In Calais, France, the Burghers are in a group, their faces etched in agony, defeat and grief. They seem to be walking towards their death, nooses around their necks and the keys to the city in their hands.

The faces of those brave Burghers came back to me this week. This time, reflected in the anguished expressions of four, 21^st Century, female politicians.

Through various media reports, I witnessed the chilled resignation on the face of Deputy Leader Julie Bishop, realising she had missed out on the top job despite 20 years of competent service. Federal MP Emma Hauser in near tears, defending her decision to step down in the face of hurtful, personal attacks which she described as untrue and a form of torture. Federal MP Julia Banks calling out ‘bullying and intimidation’ in her party which prompted her to quit at the next election after only one term. These came only weeks after Senator Sarah Hanson-Young instigated a defamation case against a male politician for his remarks to her which she says were ‘slut-shaming’ and caused her ‘considerable harm’.

Female leaders who have sacrificed themselves by stepping forward to represent those of us who desire an inclusive, fairer democracy.

Women are turning-off

I’m into politics. I support women to run for public office. When people ask me ‘why on earth would a clever, competent woman possibly consider running for public office when this goes on?’ I know it’s a good question.

Currently, women make up one-third of our State and Federal parliaments yet female representation has been slipping back in recent years. In terms of political empowerment of women, Australia used to rank 38^th in the world eight years ago, now we are 48^th.

We can’t afford for this to decline and for women to turn-off politics. For the sake of our country, our councils, our legislatures, we need women to be at the table; sharing the power and contributing to good decision-making for all of us. We can’t give up.

“It’s not good enough to be heard. Women must be at the decision-making table” Jacinda Ardern

We need female politicians

With greater representation from female politicians, democracy becomes more effective because we get to hear from ‘the other 50 per cent’. As a result, parliaments tend to be more inclusive and responsive.

Madeleine Albright said that women in power “can be counted on to raise issues that others overlook, to support ideas that others oppose, and to seek an end to abuses that others accept.”

Not only do women contribute different views, studies also show that women politicians engage more with constituents and are better lawmakers than men. American research into the legislative impact of women in politics found that:

“As more women are elected to office, there is a corollary increase in policy making that emphasizes quality of life and reflects the priorities of families, women, and ethnic and racial minorities”.

The National Democratic Institute reports that when comparing male politicians to female politicians, from all parties, women tend to be more likely to:

• work across party lines
• be highly responsive to constituent concerns
• help secure lasting peace
• encourage citizen confidence in democracy through their own participation, and
• prioritize health, education, and other key development indicators.

Another analysis suggests that parties that struggle to get women into parliament also find it harder to get women to vote for them. In short, a party with a ‘woman problem’ and a ‘boys-club’ culture may find that it has a problem with women voters.  The results of the next Federal election may demonstrate this.

Five reasons for a woman to run

Next time someone asks ‘why would a woman run for politics?’ here are my top reasons why I would encourage a woman to definitely consider politics:

1. Successful democracies reflect the views of their citizens. Australia is a fair country. When women step up, we get to hear from the ‘other 50%’ of us.
2. As a politician a woman has power. She can get stuff done. Why let the fellas have it all? Get to the table and have a say.
3. There’s no point in complaining about the current situation if you are not prepared to be part of the solution. As the slogan goes ‘Don’t get mad, get elected’.
4. ‘Be the change you want to see’. Become a role model for other women (and to those young girls who dream of being Prime Minister one day)
5. Hillary Clinton said, ‘Politics is the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible’. As an elected representative you have the enormous privilege of making a positive a difference for your community, state or country. Grab it.

It’s time to run

Fortunately, those brave Burghers of Calais met a happy ending. According to Wikipedia, they were saved from their execution by a woman. The English queen persuaded her husband the king, to show mercy as their deaths would be a bad omen for her unborn child.

In answer to that question: A diverse democracy thrives on the views of female politicians. Our parties need women candidates in order to win. We need female lawmakers for fairer decisions.

The data shows that our politics are improved with more women politicians. Let’s not see recent events as an omen for the future of inclusive politics. We can choose optimism over despair. It’s time to support women to stand for office or vote for them (if we like their policies). Let’s work together for more #WomenInPolitics.

Ruth McGowan OAM is a past Mayor, community activist, councillor-coach and consultant to local government. She is a champion for more women in local government and delivers training on political campaigning. Follow her on twitter @hula_grl  (Photos Wikipedia commons) 

Right now, if you’re a Chief Executive Officer in charge of a Victorian council, I reckon you would be hanging on pretty tightly to your seat.

That’s because the last two years have seen an enormous change in the local government sector with ‘CEO churn’ at an all-time high.

Thirty-Three. That’s the number of CEO roles that have been up for grabs across the Victorian Local Government sector in the past 20 months; a massive 42% in 2017 & 2018. And you can bet there will be a few more CEO roles up for grabs by the end of the year.

From tiny Buloke shire in the north-west (pop 6300) to the enormous City of Casey on the edge of Melbourne (approx. 300,000 people) both have recently appointed new CEOs.

It’s the same all across Victoria. From Moyne shire in the south-west to East Gippsland it feels like every second council has or is looking for, a new CEO.

Why the movement?

Given that there are only 79 councils in Victoria local government, it’s not considered unusual to have up to ten CEO roles advertised in any one year. However, recently, many of the ‘more-senior’ CEOs have retired and are enjoying a well-deserved break from what can be a full on (yet rewarding) job.

Ambitious, younger CEOs have moved to larger councils to advance their careers. Others simply haven’t had their contract renewed by Councillors or have been unceremoniously ‘moved on’ after failing to satisfy the elected representatives.

Perhaps the current surge in appointments has to do with the election cycle.

Under the Local Government Act, Councillors have only one employee to hire and manage -their CEO. Previous council elections (October 2016) saw around a 50 % turnover of Councillors. With a new bunch of elected representatives, sometimes Councillors don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye with the direction of a previous council. Fairly or unfairly, some may attribute past council action (or inaction) to the current CEO. As a result, sometimes Councillors will seek a change in direction by searching for a new CEO.

At other times, a CEO might see ‘the writing on the wall’ and choose to resign in their own time, rather than being ‘pushed’ by a new council. Sometimes a CEO may choose to leave in the middle of the Councillor term, enabling Councillors sufficient time to recruit a new CEO and settle him/her in prior to the next election (October 2020).

Does it matter?

What are the implications of this level of ‘churn’ in the sector and does it really matter? Perhaps change is good for Councillors who want to avoid complacency, and the risk of a CEO becoming complacent, or one who stops listening and delivering results.

How long should a CEO stay? A Harvard Business Review article on this topic suggests seven years, plus or minus two as  ‘a reasonable number: seven years is probably the period of maximum effectiveness for most people in what can be a very stressful job’[i]. They suggest there are three phases to a CEO job which evolves from the Entry stage to Consolidation and then Decline.

Ideally, a CEO will realise it is time to move on when they are “at that sweet spot of being at the peak of their performance, just before the decline”. 

Councillors need to skill-up

The other impact of all this CEO recruitment activity is that many Councillors who have never employed a CEO before, are suddenly finding themselves having to build their knowledge and skills around the process of executive recruitment, placement and performance management.

The fact is, that Councillors come from all walks of life and few have experience in hiring staff at the executive level.

Many simply don’t have the skills to employ staff at the level and salary of a contemporary Council CEO. Typically a council will spend approximately $30-60,000 on the CEO recruitment process. It can involve hundreds of hours of Councillors’ time as they engage a recruitment agency, advertise widely, select and interview candidates and finally manage the placement of the preferred candidate

At times, this means Councillors may put blind trust in the executive search agency and take a ‘hands-off’ approach when they really could be paying more attention to the whole process for their ‘one employee’.

It is important for Councillors to successfully manage the recruitment of a new CEO and get it right the first time. They certainly don’t want to waste ratepayers’ funds by having to go back to the beginning because of a ‘dud’ appointment.

Independent advice is important

Many Councillors are recognising the value of independent support to guide them through the CEO recruitment process.

Increasingly, as part of my consultancy services, I am being approached by Councillors who are seeking assistance from an independent expert who has no conflict of interest in CEO placement and can, therefore, advise Councillors on what they need to know, manage and avoid. They see this as an important investment in due diligence.

The importance of independent support in CEO employment has also been recognised by the Victorian State Government who have proposed a new Local Government Bill (currently before Parliament) to deliver greater transparency in CEO employment. The Act requires Councils to develop and adopt a CEO Employment and Remuneration policy and to obtain independent professional advice in relation to the matters dealt with the CEO employment.

There is an unprecedented level of CEO churn in Victorian councils at the moment. With all this change it is heartening to see many Councillors seeking independent advice and support with the recruitment process to help them employ an outstanding candidate for the council team, officers and the municipality. Please get in touch if I can assist.

Ruth McGowan OAM is a consultant to local government and supports Councillors as an independent adviser in the recruitment of their CEO. She is a former Mayor, Councillor and has been on a number of boards where she has been involved in CEO recruitment.

What is authentic leadership? It may be hard to describe, but you can sure smell it when it’s faked.  Increasingly, it’s a quality that we’re looking for in our corporate and political leaders.

It’s a fair bet that when you ask someone what characteristics they want to see in their leaders AUTHENTICITY is near the top. This goes for all leaders – men and women – whether in politics, corporates, public sector or community and service associations. Other key attributes suggested by leadership specialists are emotional intelligence, communication skills, confidence, a positive attitude, intuition, delegation skills and someone who is approachable.

A decline in trust

Last week the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer, which measures public trust in our main institutions reported that Australians’ trust in government at an all-time low.  Trust in business and the media also declined with Australia being in the bottom third of 28 countries surveyed.

Why is trust in government so low? Maybe Australians are sick and tired of the political dramas of recent years. The still-unfolding citizenship saga, party infighting and the infamous postal survey on marriage equality have taken their toll.

It’s left us hungry for authentic leadership, in both our political and corporate institutions.

We seek people who stand for something, who have values that they back up with actions; people who walk their talk.

Authentic leadership in political leaders

Can there be such a thing as an honest politician? While some may see this as a rhetorical question, wrapped around an oxymoron, your answer provides an insight to what you value in your own leadership behaviour.

Australians are known for their laid-back approach to politics. Not having had civil wars where we have had to fight for the right to vote or bloody battles over democracy will do that to a nation.

Despite the entreaty by political satirist P. J. O’Rourke to ‘Don’t vote; it just encourages the bastards’, we are a compliant lot. We obey our compulsory voting laws, regularly trot off to elections and obligingly number the boxes on voting forms in the hope that we will elect politicians who inspire us and do the right thing as leaders of our Councils, State Governments and our nation.

On first impressions, we are often prepared to give political candidates a ‘fair go’.

We assume people will be honest. That they will act with integrity.

After all, they are running for public office, so aren’t they holding themselves up to a higher standard than the rest of us?

And even if once elected, they are not perfect, we generally cut our politicians a lot of slack. We might not like it, but when we are told an election promise is being dropped because it is ‘non-core’ or ‘there will be no carbon tax’ or ‘no higher taxes’ we sigh and sort of expect it. If they do something wrong or stuff up, as long as they take responsibility and apologise, we (mostly) forgive them.

Don’t cross the line

However, there is a line in the sand of what Australians will and will not accept from our leaders.

When faced with dishonest, lying and hypocritical behaviour our ‘bull-shit radar’ goes up.

We can smell when someone is being deceptive, and we don’t like it. As a result, that person loses respect, and may even become an object of ridicule. If they are a politician, it becomes very hard for them to survive or get re-elected. If they are a manager, they risk losing the loyalty of employees.

Unfortunately, we can all point to examples of leaders in organisations and from both sides of politics where integrity, trustworthiness and honesty have been discarded for expediency or self-interest.

3 things we want in our leaders

Think of an authentic leader you admire (past or present) in political life, corporate Australia or the public service. What were their qualities that demonstrated integrity? I suggest that there are three essential aspects of someone’s character that makes them an authentic leader:

• Authentic leaders have clear values. They are principled.
• Authentic leaders stand for something and have standards about what is right and wrong. They are ethical.
• Authentic leaders use their values to guide their actions – that is, the decisions they make, the way they behave and how they engage with others. They are consistent

Authentic leaders ‘walk their talk’; even when no one is watching. Because that’s who they are.   

We need more, authentic leaders

In a time of declining trust and increasing disappointment in Australian politics and business, it’s time we had more leaders that display integrity through their actions.

The Harvard Business Review has said that ‘Authenticity has become the gold standard for leadership.’ Thankfully, there are people meeting that standard. For inspiration, check out Victor Perton’s Australian Leadership Project which has a mission to “Celebrate, Understand and Improve Australian leadership” and includes hundreds of interviews with Australian Leaders.

Perhaps you may be lucky enough to work with, or be represented by, an authentic leader? What is it that inspires you about their values, behaviour and action?

Ruth McGowan OAM is an experienced political campaigner at a local and federal level and is a passionate supporter of authentic community leaders standing for public office. She works as a consultant in local government and is a gender equity advocate. Ruth is currently writing a book to assist candidates to Get Elected to public office.